In September 1999 HM Prisons appointed its first Muslim Adviser, Maqsood Ahmed,working within the HQ Chaplaincy Team. The adviser is involved in the appointment of prison imams and providing them support and guidance. Many inmates adopt Islam as their religion while in prison.

Since 2002 the Metropolitan Police Service has amended its dress code to allow female Muslim officers to wear the hijab. The Head of the Met's Human Resources, Bernard Hogan-Howe, has said: "It is only right that the Met ensures that its uniform is appropriate for all its staff".

MIM:

Does this mean that the Metropolitan Police are expecting a mass conversion to Islam ?

MIM:Note that in 1999 prior to 9/11 the Metropolitan Police declined to let Muslim women officers wear the hijab for "safety reasons". ( see article below).

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MIM:The Islamic Cultural Center of London held an open 'recruitment day' in conjunction with the Metropolitan police.

The ICC is a Saudi funded Wahbist institution with links to Al Qaeda and Al Haramain the Saudi 'charity' which was closed down by the U.S. government last week .(see full article below).

The ICC is run by Ahmad Al Dubayan a former Berlin Saudi embassy cultural attache who is under investigation after his protege and sucessor Fathiki was linked to the Hamburg terrorist cell and the 9/11 hijackers.

One can only wonder what kind of 'pressure' they exerted on the police and government to get the Metropolitan Police "no hijab" policy amended.

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MIM:Information on the Saudi terrorism ties of the Islamic Cultural Center

In May, the Saudi and American governments demanded that Al-Haramain shut down its operations in 10 countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Croatia. The Al-Haramain headquarters in Riyadh didn't respond to requests for comment. The Saudi government consultant in Washington said his client had no comment on any dealings Mr. Fakihi may have had with Islamic charities.

When imagining a missionary center catering to Eastern Europeans, Mr. Fakihi's model was the Islamic Cultural Center and the Central Mosque in London's Regents Park, according to a Saudi friend who discussed the matter with him. The London complex is run by Ahmad Al-Dubayan, Mr. Fakihi's predecessor as Saudi cultural attache in Berlin.

Mr. Dubayan said his operation provides guidance for Britain's Muslim community on issues such as marriage and divorce. The mosque, he said, is not a Saudi government institution. It has representatives from 23 countries serving on its supervisory board, he said. "I don't represent Saudi Arabia," Mr. Dubayan said. But the London mosque and Mr. Dubayan have close ties to Saudi-government-backed charities, such as the Muslim World League, according to the league's Web site.

Mr. Dubayan left the Saudi Embassy in Berlin three years ago. But a senior German intelligence official said he remained a Saudi diplomat until early this year. It was only then that Mr. Dubayan returned his diplomatic accreditation, the German official said.

According to a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Fakihi told his superiors in Saudi Arabia that his ultimate goal was to turn Berlin into an Islamic proselytizing center for Eastern Europe. And German officials said they believe he met earlier this year with a Tunisian man under investigation here for possessing bomb-making materials and a handbook for brewing poisons.

During Mr. Fakihi's more than two years in Berlin, Mr. Dubayan served as his mentor and met regularly with the younger man, according to a Saudi friend of Mr. Fakihi's familiar with the relationship. In fact, the expansion of the Al-Nur mosque was a project conceived by Mr. Dubayan, the friend said. Mr. Dubayan arranged for this friend to assist Mr. Fakihi in writing the Al-Nur proposal and other important letters.

He frequented a Berlin mosque favored by Islamic extremists and attended on occasion by members of the now-notorious Hamburg cell that helped mount the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, German investigators said. Mr. Fakihi, now 32 years old, channeled more than $1 million to the mosque, where Muslim clerics have preached intolerance of non-Muslims, the investigators said.

Mr. Fakihi hasn't been accused of involvement with terrorism. He returned to Saudi Arabia in March, after the discovery of his business card last year among the possessions of a man convicted in Germany of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers. Mr. Fakihi couldn't be reached for comment in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Dubayan didn't respond to requests for comment on his relationship with Mr. Fakihi.

German Investigators LinkMr. Fakihi to ExtremistsBy DAVID CRAWFORDSPECIAL TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

http://www.indolink.com/Forum/India/messages/6165.htmlBERLIN -- As head of the Islamic Affairs Department at the Saudi Embassy here, Muhammad Jaber Fakihi was responsible for explaining Saudi religious views and assisting Muslims in need. These were some of his activities after arriving in June 2000:

He frequented a Berlin mosque favored by Islamic extremists and attended on occasion by members of the now-notorious Hamburg cell that helped mount the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, German investigators said. Mr. Fakihi, now 32 years old, channeled more than $1 million to the mosque, where Muslim clerics have preached intolerance of non-Muslims, the investigators said.

According to a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Fakihi told his superiors in Saudi Arabia that his ultimate goal was to turn Berlin into an Islamic proselytizing center for Eastern Europe. And German officials said they believe he met earlier this year with a Tunisian man under investigation here for possessing bomb-making materials and a handbook for brewing poisons.

Mr. Fakihi's tenure in Berlin shows one way the puritanical version of Islam espoused by Saudi religious and government leaders can be spread. Behind the suave princes who decry terrorism and present a reassuring face to the West, men such as Mr. Fakihi -- Saudi government officials, employees of Saudi charities and others -- disseminate a view of Islam that derides "nonbelievers" and disparages the U.S. and Western culture.

Saudi government spokesmen deny the country encourages intolerance. But for years, the oil-rich kingdom has funded religious schools, seminars and charities that spread fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. American and European officials have said that this kind of Islamic belief has helped foster hatred toward the West and in some extreme cases, such as the al Qaeda organization, bloody acts of terrorism.

Mr. Fakihi hasn't been accused of involvement with terrorism. He returned to Saudi Arabia in March, after the discovery of his business card last year among the possessions of a man convicted in Germany of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers. Mr. Fakihi couldn't be reached for comment in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Embassy in Berlin didn't respond to requests for comment. Calls to the Saudi government in Riyadh were returned by an American public relations consultant in Washington. The consultant, who asked not to be identified by name or described as a Saudi spokesman, said Mr. Fakihi's activities in Berlin had been audited and found to be proper. "He did nothing wrong," the consultant said.

The consultant said the premise that Mr. Fakihi personified Saudi efforts to spread an intolerant faith "is dead wrong." He added: "Please do not confuse the acts of a few individuals, with the beliefs and deeds of the entire Saudi people. When you paint Saudi Arabia with a broad brush, you can't say its people are anti-American or anti-Western."

Mr. Fakihi arrived in Berlin in June 2000, after studying Islamic law at the King Saud University in Riyadh. A slim man with a bushy beard, he helped Muslims in Germany make the sacred pilgrimage to Islam's holy sites in Mecca and Medina. He also supplied Muslims here with German translations of the Quran and other religious literature.

Muslim friends of Mr. Fakihi in Germany, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that he spoke neither German nor English. He led a relatively insular existence because he resisted fraternizing with non-Muslims -- and even with most other Muslims in Germany, whom he considered too spiritually lax. Most of Germany's 3.5 million Muslims are Turks who follow a version of Islam more moderate than that espoused by observant Saudis.

Cultural Attache

Mr. Fakihi's post at the Saudi Embassy was the equivalent of a cultural attache. But his friends said he wouldn't attend concerts, plays or movies, primarily because he feared any exposure to music, which some orthodox Muslims avoid. He adhered to a fundamentalist strain of the religion promoted by Saudi Arabia and often referred to as Wahhabism. The name alludes to Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, the leader of a puritan Islamic revival in the 18th century. Mr. Fakihi's strict fidelity to Wahhabism prevented him from entering a car if the radio was playing because of the chance that music might come on, his friends said.

Not all of his views were consistent, however. His friends said that Mr. Fakihi vociferously urged them to boycott American goods, as a symbol of resistance to a culture he viewed as corrupt and decadent. Still, the diplomat couldn't shake his strong affection for Coca-Cola, which he drank every day, his friends said, despite their jokes about the contradiction.

Mr. Fakihi's wife, Maryam, is a school teacher, a profession in short supply in Saudi Arabia, so the government had her remain behind in their home country, with the couple's daughter. The diplomat was lonely, his friends said, and he found solace in an Arab restaurant called Salsabil. The place was known for its authentic home cooking and for not serving alcohol, which observant Muslims avoid. Every day, Mr. Fakihi ordered lamb stew with rice, a favorite dish his mother had made, the restaurant's owner, Houssam Nahouli, said.

Mr. Nahouli and some of his employees were members of Berlin's Al-Nur Mosque, which became Mr. Fakihi's favorite place of worship, too, his friends said. The small mosque is located in a district known for its mix of immigrants and counterculture German youth. Most of Al-Nur's worshipers are from Arab countries, and it stands out from predominantly Turkish mosques in that it hews to a more orthodox form of Islam, according to German government investigators.

By the late 1990s, the mosque hosted preachers who justified violence in the name of defending Islam, the investigators said. Mohamed Atta, thought to be the lead Sept. 11 hijacker, and other members of the Hamburg cell visited the mosque during this period, the investigators said.

In addition, documents containing the mosque's address were seized by Pakistani investigators who searched the belongings of men alleged to have received military training in 2001 at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. German prosecutors submitted copies of the documents to a court in Hamburg during the trial of Mounir el-Motassadeq, a Moroccan convicted in February of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Mr. Fakihi had big plans for Al-Nur. Shortly after arriving in Berlin in June 2000, he wrote a letter to the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs in Riyadh, Saleh bin Abdulaziz Al-Ashaikh, proposing to turn the mosque into a center for Islamic missionary activity aimed at "ethnic European" populations in Eastern Europe. The Journal reviewed a copy of the letter in Arabic and had it translated. Mr. Fakihi, who envisioned moving his office to the mosque, proposed that Al-Nur carry the word of Islam to Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the last of "which once belonged to the Islamic Caliphate under Ottoman Empire rule."

The letter cautioned about the need to prepare for times of "conflict" between Muslims and unspecified "others," although the context implied that he wasn't referring to violent conflict. The letter recommended purchasing real estate to house an enlarged Islamic center in Berlin, noting that "property ownership is more secure, and offers greater guarantees should it come to a conflict between Muslims and the others."

It couldn't be determined what response Mr. Fakihi received to his letter.

The Washington-based consultant to the Saudi government said the diplomat's aid to the mosque was modest. An audit of the accounts at the Saudi Embassy in Berlin revealed that Mr. Fakihi distributed a total of less than $5,000 in government money during his entire tenure in Berlin, the consultant said. "His job was to provide copies of the Quran, prayer rugs, and to support the celebration of Islamic festivals," the consultant added. "He wasn't in a position to provide funding for a mosque."

But German investigators said Mr. Fakihi arranged for Saudi government-backed charities to fund the expansion of Al-Nur. The main example is the Riyadh-based Al-Haramain Foundation, which investigators said donated $1.2 million to help the mosque. The investigators said land-purchase records show that in December 2000, the mosque used the money to buy a four-story factory complex on a quiet side street, across from a two-story figure of a Marlboro Man rotating on the roof of a cigarette factory. Previously a shabby backyard prayer hall, the larger Al-Nur was outfitted with prayer rugs, classrooms, kitchens, shops and an Internet server, all of which a mosque official proudly pointed out during a visit.

Freezing Assets

In March 2002, the U.S. Treasury ordered the freezing of assets of the Al-Haramain branches in Bosnia and Somalia. In June, the Saudi government said that its own investigation of the foundation had revealed that these branches "supported terrorist activities and terrorist organizations," such as al Qaeda. The Saudis said that the Riyadh branch of the foundation, which is backed by the Saudi government, hadn't been involved in any wrongdoing.

In May, the Saudi and American governments demanded that Al-Haramain shut down its operations in 10 countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Croatia. The Al-Haramain headquarters in Riyadh didn't respond to requests for comment. The Saudi government consultant in Washington said his client had no comment on any dealings Mr. Fakihi may have had with Islamic charities.

When imagining a missionary center catering to Eastern Europeans, Mr. Fakihi's model was the Islamic Cultural Center and the Central Mosque in London's Regents Park, according to a Saudi friend who discussed the matter with him. The London complex is run by Ahmad Al-Dubayan, Mr. Fakihi's predecessor as Saudi cultural attache in Berlin.

Mr. Dubayan said his operation provides guidance for Britain's Muslim community on issues such as marriage and divorce. The mosque, he said, is not a Saudi government institution. It has representatives from 23 countries serving on its supervisory board, he said. "I don't represent Saudi Arabia," Mr. Dubayan said. But the London mosque and Mr. Dubayan have close ties to Saudi-government-backed charities, such as the Muslim World League, according to the league's Web site.

Mr. Dubayan left the Saudi Embassy in Berlin three years ago. But a senior German intelligence official said he remained a Saudi diplomat until early this year. It was only then that Mr. Dubayan returned his diplomatic accreditation, the German official said.

During Mr. Fakihi's more than two years in Berlin, Mr. Dubayan served as his mentor and met regularly with the younger man, according to a Saudi friend of Mr. Fakihi's familiar with the relationship. In fact, the expansion of the Al-Nur mosque was a project conceived by Mr. Dubayan, the friend said. Mr. Dubayan arranged for this friend to assist Mr. Fakihi in writing the Al-Nur proposal and other important letters.

Mr. Dubayan didn't respond to requests for comment on his relationship with Mr. Fakihi.

The Al-Nur project stalled after Sept. 11, 2001. During a German government investigation of Islamic extremism, Mr. Fakihi's business card turned up among the possessions of Mr. Motassadeq, the man convicted of aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers. Investigators said they believe Mr. Fakihi met Mr. Motassadeq at the Al-Nur mosque or the Salsabil restaurant. But the investigators said they don't think Mr. Fakihi assisted the hijackers. "We never took notice of Mr. Fakihi until the card was found," a senior German intelligence official said. The Saudi Embassy said last November that it had had no contact with Mr. Motassadeq.

By December, the German government's suspicion of Mr. Fakihi was unmistakable. Visitors to his Berlin home said they had to walk past police guards, and investigators sometimes watched him from an unmarked car as he ate in his favorite restaurant. Friends who joined him for these meals said he told them that the Germans were "conducting a terrorism investigation."

On March 20, German police tailing a 32-year-old Tunisian, Ihsan Garnoaui, saw their quarry in a car with diplomatic license plates, investigators said. Mr. Garnoaui is under investigation for possessing bomb-making materials and a handbook for making poisons. German investigators said they believe Mr. Fakihi was driving the car with diplomatic plates. The investigators said they believe the pair also had first met at the Al-Nur mosque or the Salsabil restaurant.

The Tunisian was arrested on March 20, within minutes of leaving the car. He is in pretrial detention. A senior German investigator said Mr. Garnoaui had visited the Saudi Embassy in Berlin earlier that day to apply for a visa. Mr. Garnoaui couldn't be reached for comment.

The imam, or prayer leader, of the Al-Nur mosque, Salem El Rafei, was arrested on the evening of March 20. German federal police searched his home and the mosque, according to the imam's lawyer, Matthias Zieger. Mr. Zieger said his client is innocent of any wrongdoing but is under investigation for membership in a terrorist group and for supporting a terrorist group. The cleric was released after being held overnight. Mr. Zieger said he has no knowledge of Mr. Fakihi, the Al-Haramain Foundation or activities at the mosque.

Two days after the arrests, on March 22, the German Foreign Ministry, following a recommendation from the country's domestic-intelligence service, told the Saudi Embassy that Mr. Fakihi's diplomatic accreditation would be withdrawn unless he left the country, according to a senior German official.

That same day, Mr. Dubayan flew in from London and met Mr. Fakihi at Berlin's Intercontinental Hotel, one of Mr. Fakihi's friends said. Mr. Dubayan didn't respond to requests for comment about this meeting. The next day, Mr. Fakihi took a flight to Riyadh.

The Saudi government consultant in Washington said Mr. Fakihi was never formally asked to leave Germany and that Germany has never informed Saudi Arabia about any investigation of Mr. Fakihi. The Saudi consultant said Mr. Fakihi was questioned by Saudi officials upon his return to Riyadh and was cleared of any wrongdoing. The German Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Reunited with his wife and child in Riyadh, Mr. Fakihi has telephoned at least twice to Berlin to say that he is doing fine, his friends said. He has told friends he isn't under investigation at home. Allegations that he inappropriately channeled money to the Al-Nur mosque are "nonsense," he has told these friends.

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MIM:The Islamic Cultural Centre of London held a recruitment open day in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Service Positive Action Team (PAT) on November 30, in order to raise awareness of careers as a police officer.

The event was supposed to give an opportunity to speak to police officers about recruitment into the force, as well as giving the officers an opportunity to share their own experiences.

However, there was a very low turnout to the event, with more police officers being present than members of the Muslim community. Inspector Barton said he was disappointed at the low turnout, saying: "We did not come to talk to Police Officers!"

A spokesman for the Cultural Centre said they had tried their best to invite people, but had had a very short time to advertise.

Muslim News talked to some of the Muslim officers who were at the open day. Zahid Rahman, 35, is a CID officer in Uxbridge, Middlesex, and has been in the service for 11 years. Police Officer Mohammed Yusuf, 30, works in Wembley and has been in the force for two years. He said he likes to work with the community and "encourage the ethnic community to join the Service." Female Officer, Shahenaz, said her parents were not happy when she joined the police, but have come to accept what she does. She has been with the force for 11 years, but has not been promoted. She said: "I have been waiting to become a DC but have not been successful."

All the officers spoken to said they had not experienced racism in the Police Force, despite its being accused of institutionalised racism on many occasions.

However, a woman wearing hijab who attended the open day, asked Inspector Barton whether a person wearing hijab would be allowed to work in the Police Force. He answered that they would not for reasons of "safety" and that it was "not part of the uniform." The Muslim News asked whether Sikhs were allowed to wear the turban, to which he replied "yes". The reason why the hijab was a "safety issue" was because "most of the scarves are worn around the neck and therefore do not satisfy our health and safety regulation."

Also, Inspector Barton pointed out that Sikhs are covered by legislation.

Superintendent Ali Dizaei, Vice-Chairman of the National Black Police Association, criticised the Met's recruitment policy on Muslim women, saying: "Why can't we change our uniform to allow Muslim women with the hijab? A little bit of imagination and design of the hijab from the Service will overcome the problem of safety"

Police are set to crack down on Abu Hamza's supporters by stopping them praying outside the mosque he was ousted from 15 months ago.

Around 100 people yesterday worshipped in front of the Finsbury Park mosque, north London, as Mr Hamza began his second day behind bars in Belmarsh top security prison.

Prayers were said for the radical cleric, and supporters denounced his arrest.

He was arrested on Thursday after the US requested his extradition on a string of alleged terrorism offences, claiming that he had aided al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Before Mr Hamza can be extradited, the US will have to pledge that he will not be executed, and will only be tried in a civilian court, not by a military commission. It will also have to guarantee that he will not be sent to Guantánamo Bay, where more than 650 people accused of being terrorists are being held without charge or trial. At least one Briton held there, Feroz Abassi, is alleged to have been recruited by Mr Hamza.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The extradition arrangements between the US and UK do not extend to Guantánamo Bay or any other military commission. The UK authorities would not be able to surrender anybody to a military court."

Since the radical cleric was thrown out of the Finsbury Park mosque his supporters have prayed in the road outside, blocking traffic for two hours every Friday.

But the head of the police in the borough, Chief Superintendent Barry Norman, said: "There must come a time when we must allow this community to return to normality. The wider Muslim community in the borough are telling me they don't want these alleged radicals here every Friday. We'd prefer a voluntary end."

Mr Norman said he would meet Mr Hamza's supporters to discuss an end to the praying in the street, but if they refuse, officers could use public order powers. He said: "We do not want to create a situation with more disruption and more police officers needed to stop the preaching than by facilitating it."

The home secretary, David Blunkett, tried to deflect questions about why Britain has never prosecuted Mr Hamza. He said the US had evidence gathered through electronic intercepts which were inadmissible in English courts.

The Americans, he told BBC radio, "have collated evidence from sources that we do not have ... The evidence that they have is about his [alleged] activities linked to Oregon ... to evidence they believe they have in Afghanistan".

Mr Blunkett said that any intercepts of telephone conversations would not be admissible in a British court.

He was asked about the satellite telephone call allegedly linking Mr Hamza to hostage-takers in Yemen. "We do not use intercepts in open court. We have a review of that going on at this very moment and I hope to be able to report by the autumn," he said. "My views have changed and I think there is room for limited use of such evidence."

Sheikh Omar Bakri, of the radical Muslim group al Muhajiroun, said the media's "lies and distortion" had made Mr Hamza "public enemy number one".

"The British government and police never found any evidence against Abu Hamza, who was living on their own doorstep. Suddenly you have 11 so-called charges."

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MIM:

Not only does the British government fail to crack down on terrorism, the home office and Metropolitan Police are actually involved with funding events featuring speakers from groups which openly call for Jihad in the U.K. An event featuring a speaker from Al Muhajiroun "one of the most extreme groups operating in the West today" was ironically entitled,"How Dangerous are the New Religions?"

In this INFORM event, Al Muhajiroun leader Anjem Choudary was a featured speaker.

In 2002 Choudary had been arrested and charged with burning an Israeli flag during an anti Israel demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in London. Both Al Muhajiroun group's 'spiritual leader' Omar Bakri, and Choudary had issued 'fatwas'(religous rulings) and press releases calling for the killing of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel.(see documents below).

MIM: The British Home Office and Metropolitan Police also contributed money to INFORM (Information on Religous Movements) which hosted this event at the London School of Economics which is known to be a hotbed of extremist activity for groups such as Al Muhajiroun and Hizb ut Tahrir.

Somewhere along the way, the two men became radicalized, an experience shared by other British Muslims. The "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, jailed for life in the U.S. for trying to blow up an airliner in December 2001, changed from an amiable young man into an extremist, according to one London imam. Somewhere, too, middle-class Omar Saeed Sheikh was turned, and the clever London School of Economics student took jihad to the extreme. He was sentenced to death in Pakistan for the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. There are another nine Britons, captured during the Afghan fighting held in Camp X-Ray, and still others who died in Afghanistan without their parents in Britain even knowing they had joined the jihad. They too asked what had happened to their sons.

One answer seems to be preachers like fundamentalist Abu Qatada, whose sermons inspired the members of 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta's cell, and Jamaican-born cleric Abdullah al-Faisal, who urged his followers in Britain to kill non-believers with guns and even chemical weapons. Abu Hamza al-Masri's militant rhetoric at north London's Finsbury Park mosque apparently inspired many prominent terror suspects, from Richard Reid to Zacarias Moussaoui — and possibly Sharif, too.

Abu Qatada and al-Faisal are now in prison, and the government has initiated moves to remove Hamza's British passport. But Al-Muhajiroun, an extremist Muslim youth movement with offices in Derby and other cities, is still active. It has long been suspected of influencing young men to train for the jihad. According to its Syrian-born founder, Omar Bakri Muhammad, both Sharif and Hanif attended his Shar'ia law lectures though neither were members of the group. Its U.K. leader, Anjem Choudary, will not denounce the latest suicide bombing; he says jihad is a Muslim duty, Palestine a "Muslim land suffering atrocities" and "it's no surprise some should go there and fulfill their duty in this way."

Inform Spring Seminar

Seminar Announcement: Religious Studies, New Religions

Inform Spring Seminar

How Dangerous are the New Religions?

Date: Saturday, 15 May 2004Time: 9.30am to 5pmLocation: New Theatre, London School of Economics

Presenters will include:

PROF EILEEN BARKERLondon School of Economics

MR ANJEM CHOUDARYThe UK Head of Al-Muhajiroun, Lecturer at the London School of Shari'ah & Chairman of The Society of Muslim Lawyers

PROF JEAN LA FONTAINELondon School of Economics

DR NICHOLAS GOODRICK-CLARKEDirector of Centre for Western Esotericism, University of Wales, Lampeter

DR MASSIMO INTROVIGNECenter for the Study of New Religions (CESNUR), Italy

DR J GORDON MELTONInstitute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR), USA

British Home Office provided INFORM's start-up funding, and has made subsequent generous contributions. INFORM has also been supported by major grants and donations from the mainstream religions, the London Metropolitan Police, Smith's Charity, J.P.Getty, the Nuffield and Wates foundations, the Jerusalem and Dulverton Trusts and other charitable organisations. The London School of Economics and Political Science, where INFORM is based, has also provided significant support.

The Independent Television Commission, the Radio Authority, the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office of Britain are among those bodies to have paid annual consultancy fees to INFORM. In addition, INFORM receives a number of generous donations and covenants from enquirers and makes a small profit from the sale of literature.

INFORM has a policy of not accepting money from any religious movement or any organisation that might be seen to prejudice - or wish to influence - the outcome of its research.

In accordance with the Companies Act 1985, a full set of INFORM's accounts is lodged annually with Companies House and with the Charity Commissioners.

Any donations go directly towards helping INFORM to help others. If you are able to support our work, any donation, however small, would be most gratefully received.

Most People Have An Opinion About Religious Movements...

INFORM has the Facts

INFORM is an independent charity that was founded in 1988 with the help of British Home Office funding and the support of the mainstream Churches. It is based at the London School of Economics.

The primary aim of INFORM is to help people through providing them with accurate, balanced, up-to-date information about new and/or alternative religious or spiritual movements.*

INFORM does not make judgements about religious beliefs.But we can tell you what those beliefs are.

INFORM does not say whether a group is 'good' or 'bad'.But we can tell you what a group has done and is doing.

INFORM does not tell you what to think about a group.But we can give you information from a wide variety of sources so that you yourself can come to a more informed opinion.

INFORM does not tell you what to do.But we can tell you the likely consequences of different actions, based on past situations and scholarly research.

BE INFORMED

Contact

*No attempt is made here to define too precisely the term 'new religious movement'. It is used merely to provide a common-sense starting point to cover what others have called cults, sects, non-conventional religions, alternative religions or self religions, as well as new movements in established religions. back

The director of the London School of Economics has apologised to Jewish students after the leader of extremist group Al-Muhajiroun addressed a seminar at the campus.

But the letter from Howard Davies was rubbished by pro-Israel students, who accused the university of trying to "wash its hands of this scandal".

They also questioned how the university would react if National Front leaders were invited on to the campus.

Anjem Choudary, the group's UK head, was among the speakers at an event this month organised by LSE-based charity INFORM.

INFORM INFORM is a controversial cult information agency financed in part by an annual consultancy fee from British government.It claims to provides objective information from a pluralistic, middle-of-the-road perspective, but has a tendency toward defending cults.Founded and chaired by Eileen Barker (an agnostic). Ms. Barker is a board member of cult defenders organization CESNUR. Cult apologist Jeffrey K. Hadden's controversial memo was written on behalf of Eileen Barker and David Bromley

The organisation, created with the help of home office funding, was set up to provide information on minority religions.

In a letter to the university's Israel society, seen by TJ, the university's director Howard Davies said: "I am sorry that the presence of Mr Choudary on the LSE campus has caused concern and anxiety among Jewish students at the school."

But he insisted the event was not advertised as part of the school's programme and the institution's authorities were not consulted about the line-up of speakers.

Al-Muhajiroun, which is unwelcome at National Union of Students events under its no platform for racism policy, organised an event entitled 11 September: A towering day in history, to mark a year since the attacks on New York and Washington. The group's headquarters were raided by anti-terror police last July.

Pro-Israel students expressed "deep shock" after learning of Choudary's participation in the event days after it had taken place.

A statement from the Israel society's executive committee said the decision to grant Choudary a platform "has caused us to feel threatened, and we feel that our right to study in a safe, secure environment, free from racism and hatred, has been violated.

"This is especially true in light of the unfortunate connection LSE has had in the past with Islamic extremism."

Eileen Barker, emeritus professor at LSE and chair of INFORM's board of governors, told TJ organisation tries to hear as many perspectives as possible and it didn't necessarily agree with the invited speakers.

In a letter to the Israeli society executive committee, she said: "As the conference was about the dangers of new religions, we asked Mr Choudary as a leader in a movement that is considered by many – not just the LSESU Israel society – to be dangerous."

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MIM: Here are two press releases issued by Al Muhajiroun by Anjem Choudary in September and October of 2000. The September PR was issued concurrent to an AM demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy in London and states that "Muslims will not rest until Jewish occupiers are returned dead or alive to where they came from" .

The October PR "Advice and Warning to All Jews in the U.K". was sent to Jewish groups and organisations and prompted a public outcry but no legal action was taken.

As a result of these messages an Orthodox Jewish student was nearly stabbed to death by an Arab while riding on a London bus.

England

On October 16, a Jewish man, who was wearing a yarmulke and riding on a bus traveling through the ultra-Orthodox north London neighborhood of Stamford Hill at 11 a.m., was stabbed at least 17 times in the face, neck and chest by an Algerian-born Muslim.

Leaflets calling for the death of Jews were distributed by Islamic militants in London, Manchester, and Birmingham. One leaflet read, "The final hour will not come until the Muslims kill the Jews."

Anjem Choudary, the author of the press releases was an invited speaker at a symposium on "Islam and Democracy" at Southwest Missouri State University .He was brought to the campus by Kamran Bokhari, the head of Al Muhajiroun in North America , Bokhari was then a political science student at SMSU.

Press Release Dated 28th September 2000=============================================================JEWISH DOGS FORCE THEIR WAY INTO AL-AQSA MOSQUE=============================================================Muslims will not rest until all Jewish occupiers are returned dead or alive to where they came=============================================================Demo outside Israeli Embassy Friday 29th September 2000 from 3pm - 5pm=============================================================The fascist Israeli police have been firing tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at Muslims protesting against the entry into Al-Aqsa mosque by the Jewish dog and murderer Ariel Sharon. It has been reported that many Muslims have been wounded by rubber bullets whilst others have been beaten with clubs by the barbaric Jewish army to allow this enemy of Allah and his Messenger to desecrate the mosque. The Mosque is considered in Islam as the house of Allah whose sanctity must be defended, the kaffir (i.e. non-Muslim) is NOT allowed into the house of Allah as Allah (swt) says in the Qur?an: ?The mosques shall be visited and maintained ONLY by the believers (i.e. Muslims) ? [EMQ 9:18] For those who were injured or killed in the resistance to this oppression surely they have reward and are martyred in the way of Allah (swt) as for those Muslims who hear about their shouts for help it is an obligation upon them to assist financially, physically and verbally to aid the Jihad in order to liberate this and other Muslim land from the hegemony under which it finds itself in today. Our message today, as ever, to the Jewish fascists occupying Muslim land is that we will not rest until all the Jewish occupiers, not just those that transgressed the bounds of the mosque are kicked out of Palestine. Indeed the expulsion of the Jews has been described to us by the Messenger Muhammad (saw) who said:"The day of judgement will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them ? Handed over by the British in the Balfour Declaration which sought to make Palestine a Jewish homeland, Palestine is and always will be Muslim land not for anyone to give away and prohibited for any Muslims to compromise over. Whether it be Ariel Sharon who forces his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque alone or whether it be the whole of the Knesset, Palestine will always be Muslim land for which every Muslim will struggle and which if not liberated by our generation will be the home of many Jewish coffins at the hands of the next Muslim generation since it is dear to Muslims not just as property which belongs to them and which has been stolen, but land which is inextricably linked to the belief of every Muslim. It was to this very Al-Aqsa Mosque that Allah brought the Messenger Muhammad from Mecca and at which he ascended to heaven and at which he led all the other Messengers of Allah such as Moses, Jesus, Abraham etc in prayer. Allah says in the Qur?an: "Glory be to Allah who took his servant for a journey by night from the Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) to the Masjid Al-Aqsa ? [EMQ 17:1] Whether Yasser Arafat agrees to declare his State or not, whether Israel is seen to be given anything by the PLO or not, will make absolutely no difference whatsoever since none of the so-called leaders represents Islam and the Muslims because the Qur?an is specific in obliging Muslims to defend their land and prohibits them from giving even a hand-span away. Rather Allah (swt) says in the Qur?an: And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out ? [EMQ 2:191] The Sanctity of our homes and mosques is indeed great however let us not forget that there is a greater sanctity which is being violated every day and that is the sanctity of the non-Islamic (i.e. kufr) law and order which is dominant over the whole world including over Muslim countries whether they be under occupation, such as Palestine, Chechnya or Kashmir, where Jihaad is the immediate priority, or elsewhere such as in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the UK and Egypt where to establish the Khilafah (i.e. the Islamic State) is the priority.

Following the stabbing of a Jew in Stamford Hill we issue this press release as a warning to all Jews and Muslims in the UK and elsewhere so that they can be aware of the consequences of the conflict taking place in Palestine under the occupation of Israeli Jews and of the consequences of the hostilities and aggression for Israeli interests and aggressors world-wide.

We would like to make it abundantly clear that it is an Islamic obligation upon Muslims everywhere to support the Jihad against those who fight Muslims anywhere in the world or who occupy Muslim land and that this support must be financial, physical, military or verbal. However Muslims must be disciplined and ensure that they do not target any civilians or any person who are not a legitimate target according to the Shari'ah. Hence we hereby publicly condemn the stabbing of the Jew in North London as a violation of the Shari'ah and call upon all Jews to distance themselves completely from the atrocities being committed by the fascist Israeli regime against Muslims in Palestine. We urge Jews in the UK and elsewhere not to show any support for the Israeli regime whether verbal, financial or physical or they may allow themselves to become targets for Muslims everywhere.

The Qur'an is explicit in making Israeli aggressors and occupiers legitimate targets for Muslims wherever they may be. The divine evidence for this from the Qur'an is that Allah (swt) says: "And kill them wherever you meet them and turn them out from where they have turned you out" [EMQ 2: 191] and " If anyone commits aggression against you retaliate against them in equal manner" [EMQ 2:194] and "Fight for the sake of God those who fight you and do not do transgression for Allah loves not the transgressors" [EMQ 2:190]

Muslims in the UK must also be vigilant in ensuring that they do not fall into the trap of supporting Yassar Arafat and the nationalistic call for an independent Palestine of 13% of what was occupied in 1967 since this is an affront to Islam, rather we must struggle for the liberation of all Muslim land occupied since 1948! Arafat is an oppressor no better than Mubarak and Fahad as one who has violated the Shari'ah, who does not call for the Islamic solution, who does not therefore stand for the interests of Muslims and who has alliances with those at war with Islam and Muslims which is prohibited in Islam. In addition Muslims in the UK must distance themselves from those who go with their begging bowls to Blair to ask for his help when it is the British themselves who are killing us in Iraq, it is the British who support Israel, it is they who gave Palestine away in the first place under the Balfour Declaration and it is they who spearheaded the destruction of the Islamic state!!!

In response to the killing of a Jew in North London Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, the Principal Judge of The Shari'ah Court of The UK said: `I warn and advise the Jewish community in the UK to distance themselves from the state of Israel. Muslims are not after the Jewish nations and communities around the world although Muslims are obliged to target those who are aggressors or occupiers regardless of their religion or colour, whether they be Russian forces in Chechnya, Hindu forces in kashmir or Jewish forces in Palestine or indeed in any part of the world.

Therefore if you support Israel financially, verbally or physically you will become part of the conflict.'

Sheikh Omar added in a talk delivered in Derby yesterday: `I call upon Muslim around the world to march towards their government buildings, parliament and presidential palaces, to occupy them and to depose their leaders as a step forward and to take charge and send the Muslim armies to fight the aggressors and occupiers and to establish the Khilafah (i.e. the Islamic State)'

In addition he said `I call the Muslims world-wide to resist all man made law wherever they are and to introduce Islamic law'

He added `It is wrong to burn the US, UK and Israeli flags alone, rather these must be burnt together with the flags of the Arab regimes including that of Palestine because the issue of Palestine is not a Palestinian or Arab issue rather it is an Islamic issue concerning Muslims world-wide.'

Moreover the Sheikh said: `I pray to almighty god to unite Muslims world-wide against the secular man-made regimes and to implement Islam the way God has united the Muslims world-wide against the occupiers'

NB. PLEASE SUPPORT THE DEMONSTRATION THIS FRIDAY 20TH OCTOBER 00 FROM REGENTS PARK MOSQUE TO THE EGYPTIAN EMBASSY AFTER JUMMA PRAYER